HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Local nonprofit agencies already battered by the recession could soon have to tighten their belts another notch.

Determined to erase the city's $14.8 million budget deficit, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle is proposing to slash spending on outside agencies by 10 percent next year.

That's $454,380 that won't be available for library books, museum exhibits, help for the homeless, drug and alcohol counseling, land preservation and dozens of other worthwhile programs.

Overall, Battle wants to reduce city spending by nearly $9 million in the budget year that starts Oct. 1.

For the Mental Health Center of Madison County, which lost 2.5 percent of its city funding earlier this year, a 10 percent cut translates to $84,820.

Brian Davis, the center's executive director, said his agency has seen its city, county and state tax support shrink by about $600,000 since the economy collapsed in late 2008.

The center previously eliminated 10 employees, Davis said, and may now have to stop treating people in the early stages of mental health or substance abuse problems.

"You can only do more with less for so long," Davis said Tuesday. "We're at that point, unfortunately."

The center's therapists, psychiatrists and case managers help about 7,500 clients a year -- many with no insurance and limited ability to pay. Davis said budget woes may force the center to limit services to people suffering from diagnosed, long-term mental health disorders.

"In economic times like these, people need us more than ever," he said. "But at the same time, the funding is just not there."

The Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama would lose $6,730 in the mayor's budget.

Executive Director Cynthia Parker said the agency, which owns or manages about 6,000 acres of preserved woodlands in Madison, Jackson and Limestone counties, will try to make it up by selling more $35 annual memberships.

Parker said the land trust will also continue to reduce spending on office supplies and other internal costs.

"We've whittled away at every single category," she said. "It's just the times we live in."

The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, which kicks off its season Saturday night in the recently renovated Von Braun Center Concert Hall, stands to lose $4,390 if the City Council approves Battle's proposed budget.

"We're pleased that it's not more," President and CEO Dan Halcomb said Tuesday. "We'll find a way to make up that loss internally, but not in the product we present to the public."

Halcomb said the symphony, which relies on ticket sales for the bulk of its $1.7 million budget, laid off a marketing assistant in 2008 and has been forced to become leaner.

With more cuts looming, he said the symphony may try to "go paperless" to reduce printing costs.

One thing Halcomb said he won't do is raise ticket prices, which currently range from $28 to $69.